When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child.
They recognise that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavour and purpose.
When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.
When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child’s song to him or her.
Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child’s song.
When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood the people again come together and sing.
At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song.
Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and
friends gather at the person’s bed, just as they did at their birth,
and they sing the person to the next life.
There is something inside each of us that knows we have a song, and we
wish those we love would recognise and support us to sing it.
If you do not give your song a voice, you will feel lost, alone, and confused. If you express it, you will come to life.
We attract people on a similar wavelength so we can support each other to sing aloud.
Sometimes we attract people who challenge us by telling us that we cannot or should not sing our song in public.
Yet these people help us too, for they stimulate us to find greater courage to sing it.
Alan Cohen adds to these thoughts by also sharing with us how African tribes use these same ideas to deal with abberant behaviours amongst their members.
The tribe recognises that the correction for antisocial behaviour is not punishment but love and the remembrance of identity.
When you recognise your own song you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another!
This is something we can also do for our young people in 2009.
